New to forum, t1 for 20 years, newly on pump & pregnant - hi from central Europe

Ailian

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hello everyone! My name is Anna, I've been a t1 diabetic for 20 years now.

Got here googling about various problems concerning diabetes, eating disorders, pregnancy and coping with all that and I must say I'm absolutely charmed by your community :)

I have never been the best patient, had a history of bulimia and more recently AN, and never really accepted the fact that I have diabetes. Managed to just hang in there, keeping a balance between physical and mental health, been using pens and no complcations so far.

Just before Christmas I found out I was pregnant, 10 weeks now :) not really planned, hba1c of 7.3, so could be better but no drama. Therefore, I spent the holidays at the hospital getting my levels sorted, and two weeks ago I got switched to a pump - medtronic 640g with a cgm (thanks to a wonderful foundation here in Poland that ensures a pump can be rented to any pregnant diabetic, or one trying to get pregnant).

I never really wanted a pump, and it keeps p**ssing me off with all the alerts and reminding me that I have it, but I won't be complaining now as I have a passenger. Just thought that I might need some support, and from what I read here I'm not alone with problems...

Right now I'm quite stable, bg levels are good, I'm just mildly sad and annoyed about the pump, get hysteric from time to time but seems under control. I know I could have refused it, but right now it would be stupid to do so... for me having a pump is 90% more effort to get let's say 10% better results (I mean psychologically). Right now it's worth it, after pregnancy I think I might be glad this solution is a bit too expensive for me (esp. cgm). I'll see.

I'm happy to find stories of successful pregnancies with t1, of some people that also have a hard time accepting the illness, of people with D and EDs, and mostly the support of all you wonderful people here.

Gosh, that was a long hello :)
 
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catapillar

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,390
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
@Ailian congratulations.

For your mechanical passenger, have you got a nice pump belt so you can keep it somewhere comfy? Have you had a fiddle with turning the alerts that are annoying you off? There is a way to do that on the 640, if you press enough buttons. The 90% extra effort of the pump should reduce as you get settled into it. But it might just be that you would need that extra effort (and a bit more) even on mdi because of the difficulties that the pregnancy hormones cause.
 

Ailian

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
@Antje77 thank you :)

@catapillar thanks, I haven't really thought about a belt - I usually just keep it in my bra or clipped onto pants. I did switch the alarm for high bgs off as I check the little devil often enough and it's usually not that high - the doctor told me to set the upper limit of bg to 140 ://
I was told however to switch on the smart guard - it cuts off the insulin when bg starts dropping, he said this was the biggest achievent implemented in this pump... I'd rather it did that silently, but it has to notify me if I need gluscose... I'll try to go through a few more nights with it, who needs sleep anyways ;p
I know pregnancy hormones can be a b*tch, hence I agreed to this devilish device. Hope I can keep up the diet. 6 meals a day. Used to live on a soup a day, and a glass of dry wine... well, wine is out of question, life without alcohol and smoking is sad, but what to do ;p thanks for the reply! :)